Frequently Asked Questions about Kopi Luwak

“Kopi” is the indonesian word for coffee, and “Luwak” is the Indonesian name for the Asian Palm Civet.

In different countries there are different names for this kind of coffee. Generally, it’s also known as Civet Coffee, Coffee Alamid (on the Philippines), and Weasel Coffee (In Vietnam).

How is Kopi Luwak Processed?

Kopi Luwak is produced by civets eating ripe coffee cherries. Digestive enzymes in the civets breakdown the proteins in the coffee beans. This removes the bitterness from the coffee and increases the smoothness of Kopi Luwak.

To find out more about the production process, please watch our video here or take a look at our infographic on how Kopi Luwak is made.

What is Kopi Luwak?

Kopi Luwak is a special type of coffee also called “Civet Coffee”. It’s processed by the Asian Palm Civet.

Those small cat-like creatures eat the ripest and therefore sweetest and best coffee-cherries. In their stomach proteolytic enzymes break down the proteins found in coffee beans. This helps to remove bitterness and harshness from coffee. This results in a tasty, complex, and smooth brew.

Why is it so important to only buy 100% Wild Kopi Luwak, such as is available from KopiLuwakDirect.com?

Although other sources claim to sell only Wild Kopi Luwak, it’s impossible for all them to produce such a large amount of wild civet coffee.

Many of them sell coffee produced by animals trapped in cages or artificially alter the taste of the beans, to imitate the complex taste of wild Kopi Luwak. The coffee sold by KopiLuwakDirect.com is sourced from free range civet cats and produced by farmers paid a fair price for their labors.

Why is Kopi Luwak so expensive? Why is it the most expensive coffee in the World?

Kopi Luwak Coffee is mainly sought-after because of the civet cats unique way of the producing coffee, which gives it its unique flavor; this requires a lot of land and time and thus only a limited amount is available. As you can imagine the whole process requires a lot of labor and care, and the harvesting process is very difficult.

Kopi Luwak Vietnam

The name in Vietnam for Kopi Luwak is “Ca phe Chon”. Literally translated it means “Weasel Coffee” and it’s mostly produced in the Vietnamese Highland region of Da Lat and Dak Lak / Buon Ma Thuot.

Locals started drinking a long time ago, since collecting droppings for them was a great way to harvest ripe and delicious coffee, without having to buy it from farmers.

In the touristy areas of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city, lots of sellers on markets claim to sell Caphe Chon, but these are usually low-quality beans with added chemicals to fake the taste of real Kopi Luwak.

Kopi Luwak Indonesia

Kopi Luwak is Indonesian. Kopi means “coffee” and “Luwak” is the local word for the Asian Palm Civet. It’s mostly produced on Bali and Sumatra.

Kopi Luwak Amazon

Buying from Amazon is one of the easiest ways to buy Wild Civet Coffee from us if you’re located in the US. It ships fast and you’ll be able to receive the coffee within days of placing your order.

Bali is one of the biggest Kopi Luwak producing areas. Located in Indonesia, it’s home to good coffee and Civets.

Kopi Luwak Restaurant

Only a few restaurants have Wild Kopi Luwak on their menu because of the price and its availability.

Would you like to sell genuine Kopi Luwak in your restaurant? Please contact us for more info. Do you know restaurants that sell this special type of coffee? We’d appreciate if you could let us know, so we can create a list.

Kopi Luwak Recipe

The ideal way to brew Kopi Luwak, is just like every other speciality coffee. If you’d like to make Espresso, we recommend a ratio of 1:2. If you’d like to make pourover coffee, a ratio of 1:16 is recommended.

There are a few select retailers selling Wild Kopi Luwak. We have partners we work with on a regular basis. If you’re interested, please send us an email with your location, so we can send you to retailers we work with. If you’re located in the US, you may purchase our coffee on Amazon.com

If you’re interested in becoming a retailer or distributor, please contact us at support@kopiluwakdirect.com with your location and more information about the way you’d like to sell our coffee.

Sumatra Wild Kopi Luwak

Sumatra is one of the areas where Wild Kopi Luwak is produced.

Organic Wild Kopi Luwak

At Kopi Luwak Direct, we only produce organic coffee, which has been processed by wild Luwaks. Instead of chemical fertilizer, which might harm the quality of coffee and the civets, we produce our own biological fertilizer. We don’t know of any other company that does that.

Kopi Luwak Roasting Profile

The ideal Roasting Profile for Kopi Luwak is a medium roast, this ensures that the natural complex aroma ends up in the cup. We usually roast our coffee Medium, but we can roast lighter or darker to your specifications, if the order is for 1 kg of coffee or more.

Is Kopi Luwak made of Robusta or Arabica coffee?

Wild Kopi Luwak is produced by free-living Civets, therefore they choose what they eat and what not to eat. Therefore it can consist of Arabica, Robusta, or Liberica coffee, depending on which coffee cherries taste the best for the Civets.

We planted high-quality Arabica coffee in the highlands of Mt.Matutum in the Philippines, therefore they mostly eat coffee cherries from arabica coffee bushes. The only way to make sure to have 100% Arabica / Robusta / Liberica coffee would be to put civets in cages and force-feed them. Since this is a horrible way to treat animals, we fight hard against this kind of manufacturer and make sure we are a legitimate source for high-quality wild Kopi Luwak, directly sourced from the farmers.

Civet Coffee India

Some farmers recently starting producing Civet Coffee in India.

Unfortunately, we don’t know that much about the market there, so we can’t guarantee if the coffee there is sustainably sourced or not.

Kopi Luwak Real Kopi Luwak on our site is 100% real, and sourced from wild free living Civets.

Unfortunately, there are some companies, which claim to have Wild Civet Coffee that is actually produced by keeping civets in small cages and force-feeding them coffee cherries. At our plantation, they roam around the forest freely, choosing themselves what to eat. Although this greatly increases the amount of effort required to harvest the beans and limits the quantity of Kopi Luwak that we can sell, we are proud to produce our Kopi Luwak in an animal friendly manner.

Also, be aware there are some companies out there, which chemically adjust the flavor to imitate the Kopi Luwak taste. Unfortunately, this is not a great way to reproduce the flavor as you will find out if you were to compare natural and artificial Kopi Luwak products side by side.

How long does coffee last?

Green coffee can be stored for more than one year, if it’s stored the correct way (Dry and cool place).

Roasted coffee can be kept for a year or longer, but the ideal timeframe to consume roasted coffee is from three days after the roast (Give it some time to de-gas) to about two months.

Is coffee a diuretic?

Even though it’s a common belief that coffee is a diuretic (which makes you dehydrate), this claim has been debunked. Even though coffee and other caffeine containing drinks might make you go to the bathroom more often, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to dehydrate.

So don’t worry about your coffee consumption, you’re still hydrating yourself more than you dehydrate yourself.

Cup of joe meaning?

Cup of Joe means “cup of coffee”. It’s believed that it comes from the phrase “Common Joe”, to describe a common man. Since Coffee is one of the drinks often consumed by common men, the word “Cup of Joe” came about.

How long do coffee beans last?

Roasted coffee beans can be consumed for one year or longer after roasting, but the quality of taste decreases usually about 2-3 months after roasting. Coffee can be consumed for a very long time after roasting, if stored properly to avoid mould and the development of unwanted flavors.

What country does the word espresso come from?

Espresso was invented in Italy, in the early 1900s.

What’s the difference between coffee and espresso?

Espresso is a certain type of coffee brewing method. Hot water is forced by pressure through a puck of finely ground coffee beans.

The standard “Coffee”, referred to especially in North America, is brewed by a machine that automatically pours hot water over a filter, in which people pour Ground Coffee. This usually gets collected in a pot.

The volume of Espresso is a lot smaller and therefore the flavor is more intense. The coffee-to-water ratio in espresso is also smaller, resulting in a more intense brew. The total caffeine content mostly depends on the amount of coffee used.

How long do green beans last?

Green coffee beans can be kept for a year or longer, if stored properly. Green coffee has to be stored in a dry way without any direct light shining on it.

How long does coffee stay fresh?

Roasted coffee beans can be consumed for one year or longer after roasting, but the quality of taste decreases usually about 2-3 months after roasting. Coffee can be consumed for a very long time after roasting, if stored properly to avoid mould and the development of unwanted flavors.

Does cold brew coffee have more caffeine?

Caffeine is best extracted with hot water. Cold brew coffee can be strong, because of the way it’s brewed. Usually the ratio for brewing Cold Brew is 1 part Coffee to 2 parts Water. Usually Cold brew is diluted, so it has a similar strength like brewed coffee.

Does light roast have more caffeine?

Light roasted coffee has more caffeine content by bean. This is because some of the caffeine fades away when roasting darker coffee. However, dark roasted coffee loses more moisture when roasting. This means some dark roasts might contain more overall caffeine when weighting the coffee, but light roasted coffee contains more caffeine per bean.